WT 360: The market from all angles

The federal government has several large technology initiatives underway such as improving customer experience and leveraging artificial intelligence. Those issues are at the heart of what Natalie Alms writes about for NextGov/FCW, one of several sibling publications for Washington Technology.She dives into those topics and more in this conversation with WT Editor Nick Wakeman. From her perch, Natalie has a unique perspective on the challenges agencies face in trying to modernize how they provide services to citizens. She explains that while AI holds great promise to improve how the government operates, there are also many hurdles to clear.Related articles:IRS touts launch of Direct File pilotWhite House stalls on digital identity mandate, despite billions in fraudExperts warn that OMB’s AI guidance could slow federal adoption of the emerging techOn the heels of Biden's executive order, agencies get White House directive on implementing AIThe CX executive order turns one

The final Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification rule is still months or maybe even a full year away, but the heart of rule will not change: standard 800-171 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.In this episode, Fortinet's federal chief technology officer Felipe Fernandez tells Editor Nick Wakeman that companies should focus their efforts around the standard shaping the rule regardless of how CMMC evolves.Companies have checklists and questionnaires available to them for use before they go through a third-party assessment. For those that prepare early, there may be an opportunity to separate themselves from competitors.Fernandez shares insights on that preparation and more as he and Wakeman dive into CMMC as it moves through the rulemaking process.

Rebrandings are a constant in the government market and the company now known as Everfox is the newest example of that after its acquisition by one of the world's largest investment firms.The cybersecurity business formerly known as Forcepoint Federal, and before that as Websense, now exclusively focuses on global government and critical infrastructure clients as a portfolio company of TPG. In this episode, Everfox's chief executive Sean Berg goes over some of the 700-employee company's investment priorities and the overall cyber landscape's current state of play.Everfox has two decades of history behind it and to say that cyber has changed over that timeframe would be an understatement, but the emergence of nation-state actors is one of the trends Berg explains to our Ross Wilkers.Also on their agenda: the new name itself of course, commonalities between Everfox's government and critical infrastructure customers, how and where the company plans to grow its talent base.

LMI was chartered during the Kennedy administration in 1961 as a provider of logistics management services and research to the federal government, work that remains core to the firm's vision and strategy.That has not changed for LMI, but its change in 2022 from being a nonprofit to for-profit appears significant on the surface. In this episode, LMI's chief executive Doug Wagoner explains the rationale for making that shift and who the investors in the company are.Of course, the conversation between Wagoner and our Ross Wilkers works its way toward what LMI plans to do with its private capital backing. LMI now has more resources for acquisitions and support for its continued push to lead in logistics, an area that has become paramount for federal agencies in light of all that has happened to supply chains during the past three years.

The presence of private equity firms continues to grow in the government market because as Zach Hester says in this conversation with Editor Nick Wakeman: “It just works." Plain and simple.Most of the largest companies in the market have used acquisitions as a catalyst for organic growth. But according to Hester, the director of merger and acquisition strategy and deal generation at Bluestone Investment Partners, there are plenty of opportunities for the small and midsized players to be active in M&A as well.Hester says the critical element a mission focus and using that to drive your acquisition choices. Buyers can add capabilities, talent and broaden your depth. It can send a signal to customers that you can take on larger opportunities.The volume of deals may ebb and flow from year to year, but there is little doubt that M&A has become a powerful force.

SMX can trace its history back to 1995 and that timeline includes the name Smartronix, a marker represented in the current name that seeks to balance recognizing history with continuous evolution.Digital transformation remains the core focal point of the new SMX's strategy and a main topic of this episode featuring chief executive Peter LaMontagne, who joined in 2020 as OceanSound Partners acquired the business.LaMontagne also shared with our Ross Wilkers his view on what private equity investors like OceanSound do for the government market's middle tier and how SMX defines digital transformation for its strategy.As LaMontagne sees things, cloud computing is absolutely part of that but far from exclusive to it. The conversation closes with LaMontagne's perspectives on the Pentagon's National Defense Industrial Strategy and what companies should do to make it a success.

Multiple-award contract vehicles are where a majority of the government's buying activity seems to take place these days, but the "Rule of Two" that tells agencies how to work with small businesses did not apply there.The White House has started to work on changing that through a Jan. 31 memo that tells agencies to use that golden rule of government contracting for multiple-award vehicles and their task order business.What that means for small businesses is the focal point of this episode featuring Stephen Bacon, government contracts attorney at the law firm Rogers Joseph O'Donnell.Bacon tells our Ross Wilkers all about what the memo does and doesn't do, plus what comes next for the directive to become final and how small businesses can use it as an informational tool for their customers.These links below have more on the Rule of Two expansion memo: Stephen Bacon on LinkedIn: OFPP Memo Small Business Participation on MACsGovCon's 'rule of two' is about to widen in scope

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification regulation may not be final for at least another year, but the Defense Department has been running a voluntary program for companies to go through a third-party assessment.That test looks at how compliant companies are with the standards at the heart of CMMC, which will formalize how contractors should protect controlled unclassified information in their systems.This episode features Editor Nick Wakeman's conversation with Derek Kernus, director of cybersecurity operations at professional services firm DTS, who explains how his company became compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's 800-171 standard that is the basis for CMMC.Kernus led DTS and one of its clients, IVA’AL, through DOD’s Joint Surveillance Voluntary Assessment program that measures their processes against the NIST standard.DTS and IVA'AL got perfect scores and that will get them an automatic CMMC Level 2 certification when the rule goes into effect, probably in early 2025.Kernus shares what they went through, what they learned and what comes next.

DMI was born as a mobility solutions provider in 2002 and that remains a core component of its approach to digital transformation work with federal agencies.But another much faster-moving sector of the economy looms large in DMI's strategy for public sector. In this episode, DMI's chief executive Rocky Thurston explains to our Ross Wilkers what the auto industry teaches the company about taking modern technology into federal environments.Think connectivity and automation in particular when listening to Thurston describe how DMI draws lessons learned from the auto industry. DMI's overall strategy and the role of its private equity backer Oceansound Partners are also on the discussion agenda.

The rise of artificial intelligence, heightened demand for improved customer experience and the relentless pace of change are all continuing to drive the market here in 2024.In this interview with Editor Nick Wakeman, ACT-IAC's CEO David Wennergren describes both the challenges ahead for agencies and contractors, plus the for optimism.One key piece of advice from Wennergren stands out: There are many serious issues to resolve, but there are no excuses for individuals and companies not to get involved with each other and more importantly their government customers and with each other.Industry also needs to put more focus on mission outcomes. Look for opportunities to make significant changes.

Getting out the crystal ball to predict future developments is a hazardous exercise, but a first look at topics and conversations happening across the government contracting ecosystem can help in preparation.Our first episode of 2024 serves as that initial glimpse into what is important for the government market in this new year with the insights from Stephanie Smith, GovCon industry senior analyst and valuation services director at the global professional services firm RSM.Smith told our Ross Wilkers that she and her colleagues at RSM are fielding many questions from clients about the evolving interest rate environment, which touches every aspect of the economy and certainly something GovCon has to take note of.They also go over investment activity among non-traditional financing sources and the business opportunities for contractors in these three buckets: the industrial base's new CMMC cyber standard, the government's push to go green and defense on the global stage.

We live in a world where there are challenges on multiple fronts – the war in Ukraine, China and a continuing terrorist threat. Those challenges drive federal budgets and defense spending, which in turn set the tone for mergers and acquisitions.This episode has Jean Stack, co-lead of the investment bank Baird's defense and government services practice, join WT Editor Nick Wakeman to discuss how M&A activity can explain priorities and trends across the federal market and some subtle changes she sees taking place.Her outlook covers what to watch for in venture capital and private equity involvement, as well as the potential for more privately-held companies going public.

An unusual set of circumstances looms over the entire public sector landscape with two sets of federal funding slated to run out on different dates in early 2024.What those deadlines mean for government contractors is the starting point for this episode featuring David Berteau, CEO of the Professional Services Council, one of the main trade associations representing the GovCon industry.A second major signpost on GovCon's roadmap for 2024 is the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, the emerging industry-wide standard for protecting information and systems. Berteau tells our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers all about what contractors are looking for in the final version of CMMC's draft rule, whenever the Defense Department is ready to unveil it.The agenda for this episode also includes discussion about technology trends and the National Defense Authorization Act, a key piece of policy legislation that also helps set the tone for how contractors work with their agency customers.

A great amount of planning went into ASRC Federal's acquisitions of a supply chain and logistics business from Science Applications International Corp. and Broadleaf, an IT services firm. The transactions closed within two weeks of one another.What led ASRC Federal to those two businesses and where does it want to go next? In this episode, ASRC Federal's chief executive Jennifer Felix describes the strategy and market-wide trends behind both of those moves.In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Felix also explains how federal agencies are working with companies like ASRC Federal to position for the future in terms of supply chain reliability and the adoption of next-generation technologies.The pace of change across the entire federal landscape is not getting slower, but the partnership between government and industry is ramping up as Felix described it.

Price and cost will always be a factor for U.S. government agencies in deciding who to choose for a contract, but not all of them just go with the lowest-bidding company for an award.How the government buyer goes about its purchasing is of equal importance to knowing what the customer is asking for, as explained in this episode featuring FedSavvy Strategies' founder and managing principal Brian Lindholm.In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Lindholm goes over the work that business development teams can do in understanding the buyer profiles of prospective customers before starting to write proposals. That pre-bid exercise also shapes business decisions on whether to compete for a certain contract or not.

Aerospace, defense, government services and space represent four key focus areas for the private investment firm AE Industrial Partners and also cover practically all of the government market.Our guest for this episode in Kirk Konert, a partner at AEI, joined the firm at around the time it started to further scale out its investments in the mid-2010s.Konert describes to our Ross Wilkers how that approach has evolved, why AEI focuses much of its portfolio on companies that are founder-led and what the firm looks for an investment.The discussion also includes Konert's observations on what is driving private investment activity across the entire government market landscape, plus the attributes that make for successful leadership teams at companies.

Generative artificial intelligence is all the rage everywhere and those tools are being applied in multiple ways across the market, including in the proposal writing process.But even with AI's promise, its effectiveness depends on the person using the tool. Which makes AI just like any other tool we have, in that it often comes down to knowing the right questions to ask.This episode goes over many of those questions with the help of Bruce Feldman, a former senior vice president from Science Applications International Corp. who now monitors AI in his current role as a principal consultant at Lohfeld Consulting.Feldman tells WT Editor Nick Wakeman that even with his advocacy for using AI and seeing its potential, he also will warn of the shortcomings and risks.

Other Transaction Authority contracts have existed for many decades as alternative means for federal agencies to quickly bring in new technologies and systems when the usual acquisition processes will just not cut it.But the focus on speed puts artificial limits on the promise and potential of what OTAs can do when used correctly, as NSTXL’s founder and chief executive Tim Greeff tells our Ross Wilkers in this episode.Greeff leads NSTXL in its mission to manage consortia that work with agencies when they decide to run OTA processes, many of which are being used for programs of increasing size.How OTAs work and what agencies are using for are focal points of the conversation that also has the backdrop of near-peer competitions for new technologies, and not just of the international type.

The prospect of a government shutdown is far from the only budgetary headwind that agencies and contractors alike have to navigate, but it is the one that causes more anxiety than any other.Funding delays and protracted procurement cycles are also facts of life in the market that are the starting point for this episode featuring John Caucis and James Wichert, public sector analysts at the market intelligence firm Technology Business Research.Caucis and Wichert take our Ross Wilkers through how in one sense the work goes on and the budget environment looks promising for contractors on the surface, but that other factors get in the way of a more ideal picture.Also on their agenda: the competition for tech talent, merger-and-acquisition highlights, leadership transitions at some of the largest companies and what the federal market's cloud computing landscape looks like today.

More startup tech companies and investors are looking to enter the defense industrial base, which RTX is one of the largest members of and pushing to expand through its venture capital arm.How this blue chip aerospace-and-defense hardware giant is taking on the role of business and technology scouting hat is the focus of this episode featuring Dan Ateya, president and managing director of RTX Ventures.The former Raytheon Co. was a player in the venture game before its merger with United Technologies to create RTX in 2020. But as Ateya explained to our Ross Wilkers, RTX formalized the venture fund as a means to link the corporation's own innovation agenda with the Defense Department's critical technology priorities.Also on the agenda for this conversation: what happens after RTX Ventures invests in a company, why the overall innovation and investment ecosystem is growing, and Ateya's advice for how to connect with the ventures team.

The world's largest defense company also takes on the role of scout through its venture capital organization, which searches for technologies and businesses whose creations are of promise to customers and the industry.But those investments are just the first step in what Lockheed Martin and those companies are looking to achieve together as explained in this episode by Chris Moran, executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures.What happens after the capital is committed from the fund? Moran tells our Ross Wilkers that the post-investment relationship has been a focus area for the ventures team with new staff on-board after the fund doubled in size one year ago.How does the startup ecosystem that Lockheed Martin Ventures taps into really operate? Moran saw it up-close during his time as a Silicon Valley executive and leans on that experience in his answer, which also includes perspective on why more startups are entering the defense market.

Amentum's identity as an engineering and technical services provider naturally places the company at the front end of many large-scale efforts by government customers to incorporate new technologies.Where the federal government's second-largest services provider is concentrating its time and resources in technology is the focus of this episode featuring Jill Bruning -- president of Amentum's engineering science and technology group.Bruning explains to our Ross Wilkers that much of Amentum's tech focus centers on the front end: so think of work like research, development and testing of advanced systems.The conversation also works its way to hypersonics and counter-unmanned aerial systems, two areas that Bruning sees as being like most technologies: on an accelerated development cycle that means today's inventions can often get quickly outpaced by tomorrow's.

Cybersecurity started to evolve into an enabling technology area more than a decade ago, which means today it is in the core of what government technology companies do for federal agencies.Dr. Sarbari Gupta founded Electrosoft in 2001 to focus on helping agencies with their own postures in cyber, the evolution of which she describes in this episode that also goes over what the government is asking of industry in today's cyber landscape.Gupta explains to our Ross Wilkers how companies such as hers have carried out their own cyber practices and cultures amid the emergence of standards like CMMC as the final rule is in-the-works for that particular program.She also shares her lessons learned along the way on growth, entrepreneurship and industry teaming as a small business founder.Click here to watch Gupta's Ted Talk that was discussed in this episode.

IBM showed its prioritization of public sector and federal markets through its $1.2 billion acquisition of Octo Consulting, which closed in the spring and is the largest such transaction in the history of Big Blue's consulting business.This episode features an update on the integration and where that combination fits into IBM's larger, global vision for itself. The guests are Susan Wedge, managing partner for the U.S. public and federal market at IBM Consulting; and Mark Johnson, vice president of technology for the U.S. federal market at IBM.One way IBM characterizes that vision is in its push to make a bigger impact for its clients, including those in U.S. government. Wedge and Johnson explain to our Ross Wilkers what that means and how they see the combined IBM-and-Octo team contributing to Big Blue's larger strategy and vision that centers around artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud computing.IBM ranked at spot No. 28 on our 2023 Top 100.

Some truth exists in the often-repeated statement that the government market has some resilience to pressures from the global economy, but companies do still have to deal with them.How contractors are navigating a world of inflation and higher interest rates is the launch pad of this episode featuring Ruth Ann Clark, managing director for aerospace, defense and government services at JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking; and Don Irwin, managing director and banker team leader at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.Unlike other markets, GovCon has the unique fabric of how its singular customer set buys and adopts technology and that shapes how companies position themselves to win contracts.Clark and Irwin share with our Ross Wilkers their perspectives on how companies are deciding which tech domains to focus on, plus where the middle-tier contractor fits in today's market landscape that often looks like a barbell shape between small businesses and large multibillion-dollar corporations.

With a new majority owner and chief executive in place, Empower AI is embarking on a new approach in its push to be a leading provider of artificial intelligence tools in the federal landscape.The path Empower AI has mapped out for itself is the focus of this episode featuring Jeff Bohling, who was named chief executive in February as the global investor KKR took majority ownership of the company.Empower AI is starting to talk about itself more as a solutions-oriented business versus one focused on making products, a shift Bohling describes as giving the company greater focus and alignment with how agencies are looking to buy AI.ChatGPT featured prominently in this conversation. Bohling shares with our Ross Wilkers his perspective on what that technology has done to the overall AI dialogue, and how his time as cofounder and owner of a restaurant informs him in this current role.

Deloitte's identity as a global professional services firm means it looks to be more than just a provider of advisory support for its clients and particularly with federal agencies.Jason Salzetti, who leads Deloitte's government and public services practice, explains in this episode how that 26,000-employee team is working with its federal clients today on navigating the increasing speeds and rates of change with technology and how they operate.A big component of that approach means Deloitte looks to be at the intersection of implementation, integration and consulting. In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Salzetti goes over how Deloitte does that and why he sees federal clients now thinking differently about risk when it comes to innovation.Other topics on the agenda included how the "GPS" team will work with Deloitte's space practice, and Salzetti's perspectives on human capital macrotrends his colleagues at the Deloitte Center for Government Insights studied.Deloitte ranked at No. 15 on our 2023 Top 100.

BAE Systems' U.S. subsidiary has made working well with others across the government and commercial technology landscapes a core part of its strategy and story to tell as a federal systems integrator.Peder Jungck, vice president and general manager for intelligence solutions at BAE Systems Inc.'s intelligence and security segment, knows both of those worlds well given he was chief executive of a cybersecurity company that became a government contractor in the early 2000s.As Jungck explains in this episode, knowing the market will be disrupted and where said disruption is coming from means his business is off to a good start. Jungck and our Ross Wilkers also go over today's role of the federal integrator, data management trends across government and what the I&S business is up to in working with BAE's Fast Labs advanced research team.BAE Systems Inc. ranked No. 24 on our 2023 Top 100.

Noblis' goal is to be at the intersections of research, science and technology for federal agencies as they think beyond just adopting "what's next."For this episode, Noblis' chief executive Mile Corrigan explains how company No. 76 on our 2023 Top 100 is carrying out the seven-year blueprint for itself that the team calls "Vision 2030."Vision 2030 at its core is all about aligning everything inside Noblis to those common goals, including its many teams of employees and how Noblis recruits the people for them. Corrigan describes to our Ross Wilkers how Noblis focuses on both how new hires get onboarded and the experiences prospective candidates have when applying to join the firm, including so-called "boomerang hires."Corrigan also updates Wilkers on the continuing shift in Noblis' delivery model they went over on this podcast nearly two years ago, where the firm finds itself writing "more code than papers."

Edition number 30 of the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings is now live for all to use as a resource for more than just the numbers behind the federal market's largest technology and services contractors.This latest episode of WT 360's Info Session series has our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers do some talking about some of the numbers, including those that do not jump off the page. But the majority of their chat is about what the Top 100 tells us about what directions these government contractors are going in and that of the market.One company of particular interest to everyone in the market is No. 9 Peraton, whose CEO Stu Shea sat down with Nick for an on-stage interview at WT's June 6 event to unveil the list. Nick summarizes his takeaways from that conversation, as does Ross from the perspective of an audience member.The upcoming CEO transition at Science Applications International Corp. is on the agenda for this episode as well.

Advent International's acquisition of Ultra Electronics in the summer of 2022 was one in a series of investments the private equity firm has made in defense and government contractors: $28 billion to be exact within the past three-and-a-half years.For this episode, we turn the lens on the Ultra Intelligence & Communications business unit by hearing from its president Jon Rucker on how that team contributes to the larger whole that is Ultra Electronics.Rucker is six months into this role in leading Ultra I&C, whose core product and service lines also include cybersecurity and electronic warfare. Where the business is looking to invest is a main focus of this conversation between Rucker and our Ross Wilkers, as is how Ultra balances honoring its nearly 100-year brand amid the push into new markets.

ICF has a new organization in place that focuses on enabling technology innovation and its connection to service delivery across all of the firm's public and private sector markets.Joining WT 360 to take us through the team's mission and its place in ICF's overall strategy are Mark Lee and Kyle Tuberson, respectively chief technology executive and CTO at ICF.This is merely the latest in a series of moves by ICF to place itself further at the intersection of tech implementation, advisory and consulting work for government and commercial clients.As ICF sees things: the client demand landscape has similar themes no matter which market is of discussion. As Lee and Tuberson tell it to our Ross Wilkers: those with the job title of technologist and others more in the domain knowledge type of role all have equal importance.

AT&T is constantly looking for ways to bring its commercial networking and other technologies forward to government agencies.Our guest for this episode to go over that strategy is Zee Hussain -- president of public sector, FirstNet and healthcare at AT&T. He explains how the public sector team works to align itself with the goals and vision of the corporation at-large to be a world leader in technology and connectivity.In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Hussain highlights both the investments AT&T has made in its core network and partnerships with other companies in the federal market to make both 5G and its augmenting capabilities a reality for agencies.What's next for the FirstNet public safety network AT&T has been building out since 2017? Hussain answers that question as well.

For this episode, Washington Technology's Ross Wilkers and Nick Wakeman give their initial reactions to Jacobs' plan to spinoff the company's government services business into an independent, publicly traded company.Jacobs had spent the past decade building that unit and creating a $4.4 billion-annual revenue entity with close to 16,000 employees. But Jacobs now sees itself going down a different path and believes Critical Mission Solutions is better off pursuing its own goals and vision as a standalone.All of that said: Jacobs has left the door open to different options for that business if they present themselves again, as the executive team stated to an audience of inquisitive investors.

A pair of big-ticket programs focused on health care for veterans, soldiers and their families is the focus of this newest WT 360 Info Session series of episodes that bring together reporters from across the GovExec media team.FCW's executive editor Adam Mazmanian and NextGov reporter Edward Graham join our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers to update the current situation regarding the ongoing electronic health record integration programs at the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.On the surface, both programs appear to be going on very different tracks. But nothing in the world of government technology at this scale we're talking about is simple.Mazmanian and Graham explain where both departments are looking to go with their EHR programs, how they got there and the roles of the companies involved in each. The common thread between them is in how both adopting variants of Oracle Cerner's electronic health record.Leidos is the lead contractor for DOD's EHR program with Oracle Cerner, Accenture, Henry Schein One and 35 other supporting businesses as teammates. Oracle Cerner is the prime for the VA EHR program with Leidos and Accenture included as teammates.

Vectrus and Vertex joined forces in the summer of 2022 to form what is now V2X -- a global government services provider roughly double in size to approximately 14,000 employees.For this episode, V2X's chief growth and client service officer Sue Deagle describes to our Ross Wilkers how the combined company is looking to build off that foundation and expand into new areas of the market.One significant leg of the corporate strategy is converged infrastructure, which V2X defines as integrating digital offerings into large physical assets with the end goal of creating smarter buildings including many military bases.V2X also has to be a scout for technologies and partners to make that converged infrastructure a reality. Deagle also explains how V2X thinks about technology and goes about identifying the right tools and partners for more than just an individual program.

Arcfield is a company whose name is slightly more than one year old, but also touts at least six decades of history behind it through the heritage of its former parent Peraton.How Arcfield has come to be and where it is looking to go is the focus of this episode featuring chief executive Kevin Kelly, who explains to our Ross Wilkers the systems engineering provider's overall thesis and approach with the backing of private equity firm Veritas Capital.Peraton and Arcfield both share Veritas as their owners but with a slightly different twist. Arcfield's strategy and execution is supported by on Veritas' Vantage Fund that focuses on mid-sized companies in the government technology landscape.Kelly describes how Arcfield identifies and decides on the right larger opportunities to pursue, plus how the company thinks about further acquisitions and his perspective on overall trends in the space and national security domains.

Military matters lead the agenda for this latest in WT 360's series of Info Session episodes that bring together reporters from across the GovExec media team with our own Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers.Lauren Williams and Marcus Weisgerber of our partner publication Defense One jump in to share what they heard and wrote about at Sea-Air-Space, a Navy-focused trade show and one of a handful of the defense industry's largest conventions. The topics there represent key areas of interest for government contractors.The group also goes over the impacts of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and other banking sector difficulties on the industry. Also up for debate are the emerging cybersecurity rules and practices for companies and where L3Harris Technologies' acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne stands. The JADC2 networking construct also gets discussed and how the military is moving on its integration of commercial cloud computing.Click here and go to page three to see the Defense Department's rendering of the Joint All-Domain Command-and-Control vision. It is exactly as complicated as we said it was.

BigBear.ai spent much of 2022 undertaking a reset and restructuring effort, all with the goal of placing itself at the forefront of artificial intelligence adoption for its government and commercial customers.This episode covers what BigBear has done and where it wants to go as told by chief executive Mandy Long and Tony Barrett, president and general manager of the federal segment.BigBear is 15 months into its life as a publicly traded company, while Long joined in October 2022 as CEO. Long, Barrett and other BigBear leaders have since been at work explaining to investors the company's strategy and where it sees itself in the broader AI landscape.Also on the agenda for their interview with our Ross Wilkers: distilling fact from fiction in the world of AI, how BigBear works to keep its federal and commercial segments in sync, and how making AI a greater reality for federal agencies requires multiple companies.

Aeyon did not even call itself by that name when Sunny Singh joined the company as chief executive in the winter of 2018.Fast forward to 2023 and what is now Aeyon is pushing to be a leading integrator of robotic process automation and other similar technologies for federal agencies.In this episode, Singh joins the WT 360 conversation to explain why Aeyon decided to partner with the investment firm Enlightenment Capital in support of that ambition and what that backing has done for the company so far.Singh also gives our Ross Wilkers a glimpse at how Aeyon blends its integration and consulting roles, plus what federal buyers are looking for with respect to RPA and other technologies under the umbrella of automation.

One of the federal government's largest contracts for commercial products and services is in a paradox as the General Services Administration is taking it through a complex consolidation process.Noted GSA watcher and Schedule contract specialist Courtney Fairchild returns to WT 360 to provide an update on where the consolidation is now, next steps for companies to take and why they should view their actions as a series of business decisions versus purely administrative work.Fairchild's role as CEO of the proposal consultancy Global Services Inc. means she is continuously peppered with questions on what companies should do next in this third phase of the Multiple Award Schedule consolidation. Consider this episode a collection of "Frequently Asked Questions," which our Ross Wilkers asks Fairchild, on pitfalls to avoid.GSA's end goal for the consolidation is simplicity for agencies and companies alike. Simplicity should also drive contractors' actions in order to make the process straightforward for GSA employees, as Fairchild told our Ross Wilkers.For more background and context, here are two articles written by Fairchild on the consolidation:Top Four Ways to Avoid MAS Modification Rejections in 2023MAS Contractors: Keep These Things in Mind for 2023

Business matters lead the agenda for the latest of WT 360's Info Session episodes and in particular a chief executive transition at the government technology market's largest company.Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers review the tenure of Leidos' retiring CEO Roger Krone that started with his initial appointment in 2014. Krone's first big move happened two years later through the merger with what was Lockheed Martin's IT services business, which laid the groundwork for what Leidos is today.What kind of company is the incoming CEO Thomas Bell going to arrive at on May 3, and what background does he bring? Ross and Nick go over that element of the transition as well.The WT team also attempts to get a handle on the endlessly troubled National Institutes of Health's CIO-SP4 IT contract vehicle, plus the Veterans Affairs Department's strong preference for speed regarding its T4NG2 vehicle, also for technology solutions.The merger-and-acquisition portion of this episode goes over these transactions: IBM's acquisition of Octo, LinQuest's own run of buys and all the venture activity being driven by GovCon companies themselves.

This Government Accountability Office decision illustrates the challenges small businesses face when moving a technology or solution they developed during the first two phases of a Small Business Innovation Research grant to production in phase three.WT Editor Nick Wakeman sits down with attorney Stephen Bacon to discuss what and how GAO made its ruling, plus what it means for small businesses looking to move their SBIR solutions to the next level.Phase one and two SBIR awards are common, but a phase three award is not guaranteed. The onus is on companies to educate and convince a potential government customer about their SBIR product and how it meets that agency's needs.

Acquisition and procurement issues lead the agenda for this latest in WT 360's series of Info Session episodes that bring together reporters from across the GovExec media team with our own Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers.Courtney Buble of Government Executive and Chris Riotta of FCW join to share their initial reactions to President Biden's mention of "Buy American" supply chain initiatives during his State of the Union address, and new regulations and legislation regarding climate reporting and cybersecurity compliance.The panel also goes over the Defense Department's move to go its own way with respect to the use of best-in-class contracts that all federal agencies feel some pressure to lean on, plus the shared workforce problem across the entire public sector ecosystem highlighted by a key vacancy at the government's most senior level.

Jacobs was born in 1947 as a company whose mission was to help clients carry out large-scale programs and that remains its focus.In today's landscape, that means working with the customer base on how to tie data and technology into those efforts. For this episode of WT 360, Jacobs executive John Karabias explains what he calls the current "wave three" iteration of his company's strategy.Jacobs' vice president of strategy for its new divergent solutions operating unit takes our Ross Wilkers through the company's gameplan unveiled in the spring of 2022 and how it came together. Divergent Solutions is a key leg of that, given its mandate is to develop and roll out digital offerings across all of Jacobs' end markets in government and commercial.All throughout the conversation, Karabias harkens back to the company's origin story and shares how he sees much of what Joseph J. Jacobs started as still shaping the firm today.

Amentum as the market knows it today launched in early 2022 and has since been at work making and rolling out its strategy with the help of two large acquisitions.How and where the global government services company has focused itself is the subject of this episode, where Amentum CEO John Heller explains to our Ross Wilkers what they are up to now.This includes the identification and pursuit of opportunities in adjacent markets to extend beyond Amentum's core. Heller shares examples of those and how fast many of them are changing, including the energy market that Amentum views as part of national security.

What business and technology macrotrends are going to dominate the agendas of companies in the government market for 2023?This episode is all about answering that question in the form of a discussion featuring our Ross Wilkers and Stephanie Smith, government contracting industry senior analyst and valuation services director at the global professional services firm RSM.Analysts and reporters have similar jobs: take in information, find the larger narrative and context, then present their findings to the respective audiences.Smith does that at RSM to help its government contractor clients make informed decisions on strategies. Consider this conversation between Smith and Wilkers as an exchange of notes on what they have heard across the industry regarding what is important and gaining in prominence.

As the long-time executive chairman and CEO of CACI International, Jack London became a legend in the government market for his leadership and vision. He finished his new book "Ever Vigilant" before he died in January 2021. Two years later, the book has been published. His wife Jennifer put finishing touches on the manuscript. This episode features Editor Nick Wakeman's conversation with Jennifer about the meaning and lessons lessons from Jack's life and career when it comes to curiosity, persistence, vision and entrepreneurship."Ever Vigilant" is a business book, but is also a personal memoir featuring stories about Jack's childhood and family. He also explains some decisions he had to make during his career.

ICF sees its move to a new corporate headquarters in Reston, Virginia after nearly three decades at its former hub in Fairfax as helping tell the larger story of the company's evolution.Chairman and CEO John Wasson has a unique vantage point given his career at ICF coincides with its time at the Fairfax headquarters campus.That relocation is the launchpad for our Ross Wilkers' interview with Wasson in this episode of WT 360, which also goes over how ICF has added technology implementation to its offerings on top of the company's longstanding work in an advisory role at federal agencies.The overall direction of federal technology and infrastructure spending was also a focal point of this discussion.

Episode number one for 2023 means the covers are off regarding a new name for our podcast, but with the same kinds of conversations as they have always been.What is now WT 360 remains all about the business of government contracting and all about the technologies involved in it, from the perspectives of leaders across the public sector ecosystem and others who observe the happenings.This premiere episode also introduces a new regular feature called the Info Session that brings together our reporters and others across our GovExec partner publications Defense One, FCW, Government Executive and Nextgov.WT's own Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers, Frank Konkel of Nextgov and Carten Cordell of FCW go over the storylines they are watching in 2023 and reflect on the Defense Department (finally) awarding its big-ticket commercial cloud contract back in December.For more on the mission of WT 360, click here to read Nick's article that introduces the new name and the kinds of conversations we look to steer through our podcast.(NOTE: When we recorded this episode, no one had received enough votes to be the next Speaker of the House. Who knows when anyone will get the votes, we sure don't.)